Henry’s growing skills with his new powers bring painful choices. Barbara and Pat have relationship issues. Courtney and the gang go to confront the ISA and come face to face with a deadly adversary.

One of the oddest things about Stargirl is that it’s full of strained relationships, with at least one on the verge of breakdown each week. This time out, it’s Pat and Barbara – unsurprisingly she doesn’t take the revelation of her daughter’s new hobby or her husband’s involvement in it and the fact they both hid it from her terribly well. Being told that her boss is an evil supervillain is a step too far, and she kicks Pat out, leaving another rift to form between Mike and Courtney as a side effect.

Meanwhile, Henry’s increasingly ability with his powers allows him to make a connection with his father, which leads to a revelation which brings equal parts despair and hope to the young man, doubly so because his father literally doesn’t seem to be the man he’s known for the last few years. Unfortunately, an intervention from the last person he wants to see means that might not last too long, leaving Henry to reach out to the last people who are really going to want to help him.

Added to the list of issues, Courtney finds herself without her staff, at a time when confronting the ISA couldn’t be more urgent, and that is the setup for some truly emotional stuff. I can’t say I wholly agree with certain of the choices the show makes along the way, but it’s certainly a brave direction to take, adding an actual honest-to-goodness human dimension to one of its relevant storylines. The show doesn’t – crucially – ever try to excuse what Henry did, but it does at least have him face up to it. Admitting that he was wrong and offering genuine remorse for it is a step in the right direction. It won’t undo what he did, and it won’t un-ruin Yolanda’s life and family relationships, but it does at least offer some growth. Most important of all, it doesn’t have the character assume that he will be forgiven/vindicated for his apology – it simply has him make it because it’s literally the least he can do.

An early flashback shot of how Pat and Barbara met becomes relevant as we head towards the closing credits, as Amy Smart finally gets to have a bit of meat to her part, delivering a side of Barbara hitherto unsuspected but absolutely welcome. One more tantalising cliffhanger is delivered as the episode draws to a close, and it promises to be a real humdinger.

Verdict: Powerful, emotional and with a fair share of surprises in it. 9/10

Greg D. Smith